Re-Imagining Bioeconomy for Amazonia

This report examines the bioeconomy of eight Amazonian countries and showcases opportunities to create sustainable economic alternatives for the almost 50 million people living in the region. The report provides new insights on ways to protect the Amazon rainforest before it undergoes a tipping point due to deforestation and degradation.

Through analysis of roughly 100 interviews and a two-stage survey of over 1,000 respondents from the public and private sectors, academia, and civil society across the Amazon, the report explores how a deeper understanding of local bioeconomy, together with enabling legislation, capital for rapid scaling-up, and infrastructure, can contribute to a thriving regional bioeconomy that helps slow and, eventually, reverse the biodiversity loss.

The scaling-up of the bioeconomy and the creative economy are key pillars of Amazonia Forever, the Inter-American Development Bank's holistic umbrella program for the sustainable development of the Amazonian region. The report's findings are intended to guide IDB’s approach to bioeconomy.